The Christmas Cat
by Darcy18
Summary: On a cold December day Mello and Matt find a lonely cat freezing in the snow. They decide to take the poor cat with them and keep her as a pet. The only thing is that pets are forbidden in Wammy House so they must keep her a secret. -A complete Christmas story-
1. Chapter 1

**Yay! I finally finished my Christmas story!  
** **I started writing this the year before, but I was too slow and December was already over... so I finished it this year instead :)** **  
** **I know it's not Christmas yet (not until another week) but the story starts December 17th and that's the date today. Seemed like a good plan to me.**

 **I want to wish everyone a merry Christmas and a happy new year in advance! :D**

 **Please enjoy my complete Christmas story and don't forget to review if you did. It would make my Christmas already awesome~ ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

 _December 17th_

'Come on, Matt! Move that lazy ass of yours and get rid of that Gameboy for once!'

It had snowed a lot the last few days and Mello finally succeeded to drag Matt outside to play in the fresh white snow. The problem was that Matt couldn't say goodbye to his games so easily…

'Nah, I rather defeat this boss so I can finally go to the next level. I'm outside, right? That's what you wanted,' Matt answered, not looking up from the small screen.

Mello huffed annoyed. 'Yeah, but I didn't mean this! Put down that thing or you'll regret it,' he threatened.

Matt didn't even look up from his game. 'I'm not afraid of you and you know that.'

Mello narrowed his eyes and looked around him. The white snow that surrounded them caught his eye and a plan was made. Matt was too busy with his game to see Mello bend down. By the time he noticed Mello was way too silent, it was too late. Mello had made a large snowball and threw it right at Matt's bare neck. It was a soft snowball so it didn't hurt, but it was freezing!

Matt yelped when he felt the snow melt into the collar of his jacket. He did some weird dance to shake the cold snow away from his skin and Mello almost dropped to the ground with laughter.

Matt shoved his Gameboy in his pocket, his game forgotten, and bend down to grab some snow.

'You wanna feel the snow too?' he said and threw his snowball towards his best friend. It was a good shot, but Mello managed to duck in time to dodge the snowball.

'You need to throw much better than that if you want to hit me!' Mello said, still grinning.

And so the snowball fight began. It was the first time they had no homework or chores to do and could relax. Well… Matt normally didn't make much homework anyway, but it was still different! That week the Christmas Break had started and everyone at Wammy House was free until the new year started.

Mello could dodge the snowballs pretty well, but Matt had a good aim. After some time a cold snowball hit him on the back of his head and before he could wipe the snow away some of it had fallen into his own collar, melting its way down his back.

'AARGH!' Mello yelled and tried to shake the snow out of his jacket. 'That's so freezing cold!' he complained.

Matt snickered when he saw he had successfully taken revenge. 'Yeah, it's weird but I had heard before that snow is normally cold.'

Mello glared at the redhead and within a second another snowball flew through the air and hit Matt on his chest. Mello didn't give the chance for Matt to throw back and began to chase him around the big garden around Wammy House.

Snowballs flew around Matt's as he tried to run as fast as he could while dodging. It didn't take long for Matt to trip over some branch hidden in the snow. He felt face first in the big pile of snow. Mello took his chance and grabbed hands full snow. Before Matt could roll on his back, Mello stuffed the snow in his jacket.

'I GIVE UP!' Matt shrieked. 'You win! No more snow please or I'll freeze to death!'

Mello looked happy with his victory and sat down besides Matt, who had turned and was laying on his back now. Together they caught their breaths. They had run almost around the whole garden and were now at the backside of the House. No one was at this side of the garden. The few that were outside at the moment were in the front.

'I'm exhausted,' Matt said eventually.

'That's your own fault. If you didn't play so many games all day, you'd have a better condition,' Mello scoffed.

Matt shrugged. 'I regret nothing.'

' _Miaow… meow…'_

Mello frowned lightly. 'Did you hear that too?'

Matt sat up and listened closely to the sounds around him.

' _Meeow… moouw…'_

'You're right! I hear it now!' Matt said.

The blonde stood up quickly and began to follow the sound. Matt followed after him and helped searching for the source of the sound. It sounded plaintive and a bit sad.

'I think it's a cat or something,' Mello thought out loud. 'It sounds like meowing.'

'One way to find out, isn't it?'

Mello and Matt stopped before a group of large bushes at the edge of the fence that separated Wammy's from the world outside. The pitiful meowing sounded louder now.

'I'm pretty sure the cat is in the bushes.' Matt turned to Mello. 'I'm going in there to look for the poor thing.'

Mello opened his mouth to answer, but Matt had already disappeared into the group of bushes. 'You have no idea what you're going to find, Matt. What if that cat is mean and claws your eyes out?'

'I'll watch out for th- Oh! I found him!'

The meowing stopped and there were rustling sounds from the bushes.

Mello sighed. 'Don't tell me you try to pick that beast up…'

Matt's head popped out the bushes first and wriggled the rest of his body out. In his arms was a fluffy hairy cat that looked way to skinny to be called healthy.

'Just look how she's shivering! I think she's freezing in this cold weather.' Matt held the cat closer to his warm body. The cat didn't struggle free and stayed calm while she looked at both of them.

'How do you know it's a female?'

'I saw it when I picked her up,' Matt answered.

Mello took a step forward to take a closer look. The cat had a warm chocolate brown color with white paws and chest. Big sparkly light grey eyes stared back at him. She was big enough to be called a grown-up cat.

'Can we keep her?' Matt asked hopefully.

'You know pets are not allowed in Wammy House. We can't-'

'Since when do you follow the rules?' Matt interrupted him. 'Come on, Mello! Look in those eyes and dare to say you don't want to keep her.'

Mello's eyes went back to the cat's and saw that even she looked hopeful at him. At least it looked like it.

'… Fine we keep her with us. But we have to make sure that no one sees her, especially not Roger!'

Matt smiled happily at his decision. 'Don't worry, I've got a plan!'

The redhead moved the cat so he held her with one arm. With the other he zipped his jacket open and put the cat under it. He closed the jacket carefully and the cat softly meowed.

'Shh, don't worry kitty, you can go out soon!' Matt said to the cat while he crossed his arms nonchalant. That way he held the cat save under his jacket and it didn't look to weird.

Apart from the little bulge the cat made under his jacket…

'We live in a house full of geniuses. Don't you think somebody is going to notice you suddenly got fatter?'

'Nah, we just have to avoid the others as much as possible,' Matt said carelessly.

Mello rolled his eyes. 'Just so you know. If we get caught I'm going to blame you.'

'Then we don't get caught!'

Matt started to walk away and Mello hurried after him. It was impossible to get through by Matt when he wanted something really bad. He hoped they would arrive without trouble by their room…

* * *

It was a true wonder, but they managed to get into their room without being caught by anyone. By the time they got into the house all the other children were gathered in the common room to sit by the warm fireplace or were in their rooms.

Mello shut the door quickly behind them and sighed with relief. Apparently the plan was so bad that it worked!

Matt unzipped his jacket and the cat landed on his paws. She sat on the ground and watched them curiously as if she expected something. When Mello and Matt just stared back in confusion the cat meowed pitiful.

'I think she's hungry,' Matt concluded.

'Of course she's hungry! She's way too skinny. We have to get her some food.'

Matt nodded. 'Yeah, you're right. And probably some water to drink too.'

'Water is not a problem. I'll go and take a small bowl from the kitchen when nobody is there. But the food…' Mello silenced in the middle of his sentence when he thought about that. Now and then they stole some snacks, but to do it a few times daily it would be too difficult to steal some food without getting caught.

'We could hide a bit of our meals in a napkin,' Matt suggested.

'Good idea, Matt!' Mello smiled.

Matt glowed with pride. 'I do my best.'

' _Meow!'_

They looked around the room to look for the cat and saw her laying on Mello's bed.

'Hey! That's my bed!' Mello exclaimed.

He took a step forward, but Matt held him back by holding his shoulder.

'She doesn't have her own place to sleep yet, so just let her for now,' he said. Mello looked at the tired cat that had curled up on his bed and was sound asleep now.

He sighed. 'Fine, for now the cat can sleep wherever she wants.'

'Mels, I just realized something,' Matt began. 'We can't call her 'cat' forever. She need a name.'

Both boys sat down on Matt's bed so the cat could sleep in peace. They thought hard about a good name for their new pet. It had to be a name that would fit her perfectly.

'What about Zazzles?' Matt suggested.

Mello shot a glare at him. 'You got that name from _The Big Bang Theory_ , so no.'

'Why not? That show is amazing!'

'It stays a no, Matt! We're not going to name her after some silly name from a TV-show.'

The silence fell again and no name came to Mello's nor Matt's mind. Until…

'I've got it!,' Mello said. 'We name her Chrissy!'

'Why Chrissy?,' Matt asked as he looked confused at him.

'We found her just a week before Christmas, right? If you take the first five letters of Christmas you get Chris. Change it into Chrissy and you got a girl's name!' Mello explained to Matt.

'Hmm, Chrissy the Christmas Cat… I like it!' Matt said cheerfully.

Mello and Matt had to wait about an hour or so before diner started and they could feed her, but at least their new secret pet had a name of her own.

Chrissy.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 _December 18th_

It was the second day their new pet Chrissy lived in their room. Mello put a small bowl of water under his bed for Chrissy to drink. He couldn't place it somewhere everyone could see the bowl of water otherwise it would be questioned. He and Matt had agreed to hide Chrissy into the bathroom when someone knocked on their door. That way nobody would discover her. A very bad plan if you'd asked Mello, but they managed to sneak the cat into Wammy House so this shouldn't be that hard either.

The food wasn't forgotten either. Both of them had brought some food to their room they hid in a napkin. Chrissy was really happy the first time she got to eat. Within seconds she devoured what they had brought her.

Matt had grabbed a bunch of soft towels and made with it a cosy place to sleep under his bed. Now she had a warm and quiet place to sleep. After the towels Matt went away again only to return with a ball of wool he took from the crafting classroom. It wasn't much, but it was something better than freezing to death in the snow.

At the moment Matt played one of his games again on the Playstation in their room. Bleeping sounds sounded across the room. Mello was beginning to get irritated with it. He tried to read while he sat at his desk, but the bleeping was very distracting.

'Hey Mels! Look at Chrissy! I think she likes games as much as I do,' Matt said.

Mello looked over at Matt who sat on his bed. Chrissy sat next to him and looked like she watched the TV-screen with interest. Her head moved as her eyes followed the character Matt controlled in the game.

'I don't think she's interested in the game, Matt. It's probably just the movement that catches her interest,' he reasoned.

'Well I think she could like the game!'

Matt could be very stubborn so now and then…

'Stop moving the character for a moment and we'll see.'

Matt did as Mello said and stopped pushing the buttons on his controller. The moment the character stopped moving Chrissy turned her head from the TV-screen and jumped off the bed.

Mello snickered when he saw Matt pouted. 'I told you.'

The redhead picked up his controller again and grumbled: 'You're mean sometimes you know that?'

Mello simply grinned at that. 'Yeah, I know.'

 _December 20th_

 _The piercing alarm sounded through whole Wammy House. Mello ran as fast as he could through the hallways. He had to find Matt before the bomb exploded and everyone inside the building would be gone._

' _Matt!' he screamed. 'Matt! Where are you!'_

 _Mello ran around the corner and saw dozens of other children running for safety. They came towards himself, but he still tried to get through the crowd. Matt had to be here somewhere!_

 _At that moment he saw Matt. The redhead was crouched on the ground with his arms protected above his head. He rushed at his friend's side and pulled his arms away._

 _Matt looked up at him. His looked scared to death. 'Where not gonna make it, Mels.'_

' _Don't say that! Now stand up and we escape together!' Mello commanded as he took Matt's hand in his. 'Come on!'_

 _Matt did as he said and together they run like hell. All the other children were gone, probably already outside, and the hallways were much longer than normal. Normally they had to be by the front door by now._

 _The alarm pounded in his ears and he just knew they had less than a minute to get out. Of course Matt tripped right at that moment. He fell to the ground and made a pained sound._

' _Matt?! Are you okay?'_

 _He groaned in pain. 'My leg hurts.'_

 _Mello didn't hesitate for a second and grabbed Matt's arm and tried to support him, but it was no luck. Matt cried out and collapsed on the ground again._

 _Mello wanted to try to get Matt up for a second time, but it was too late. The alarm stopped and instead an enormous rumbling noise came closer and closer._

 _Mello saw a wall of fire coming towards at a high speed._

 _Mello's eyes widened and grabbed Matt again and tried to drag him away from the fire blast._

 _The explosion was too fast._

' _NOOO!' he screamed terrified._

Mello jerked up when he awoke from his nightmare. His forehead felt damp of the cold sweat. His breathing was ragged and he was still shivering a bit. Mello cast a glance in the way of Matt and saw he was still fast asleep.

Good, that meant he didn't scream out loud.

Movement caught his eye by Matt's bed and he turned his head quickly. Did he still wake Matt?

A small shadow had appeared from beneath Matt's bed. Chrissy walked across the room and jumped on his bed. Mello stared at her in confusing. Why came she here in the middle of the night? Before he could tell her to go to her own bed of soft towels, she nuzzled her head against hem while she purred a soft and low.

Mello sat still in amazement. Chrissy seemed to feel he was scared by his nightmare and she was trying to comfort him. If that was not the reason she did that it didn't matter 'cause it was very soothing. His breathing calmed down and he felt his eyes grow tired. He still had some hours before it was time to get up. He lay down again and Chrissy snuggled closer to him. Mello stroked her soft chocolate brown pelt while Chrissy continued purring softly. Not much later Mello's eyes closed and he fell asleep with Chrissy curled up next to him.

 _December 23rd_

It had been a wonderful afternoon. Mello and Matt went outside again for some time to play in the snow again. Luckily Matt went along without too much struggle this time.

They laughed together about some joke Matt had told and opened the door of their room. Expecting to see Chrissy locked up in the bathroom, with of course her bowl of water and ball of wool. But what they saw was certainly not what they what was expected.

Near.

The boy with his snow white hair and white pyjamas was sitting in the middle of the room. One leg tugged against his chest. Their secret pet, Chrissy ran through the room chasing her ball of wool that she pushed herself over and over again across the room.

Mello slammed the door shut behind them and stared angrily at Near. Matt just stood still and looked like he didn't know what to do.

'I had to inform you two about L's arrival tomorrow morning. He is going to make it to be here for Christmas this year,' Near said in a monotonous voice.

The ball of wool came to a stop right before Near's feet. Chrissy jumped at it and almost hit Near in her hurry to catch her toy.

The only reaction he showed was blinking once. 'You know that pets are forbidden in Wammy House, right?'

'Of course we know that, sheep!' Mello spat at the boy. 'How did she get out of the bathroom?!'

'When I entered this room I saw you were not here so I decided to wait for you two here.' His obsidian emotionless eyes followed the cat when she ran past him again. 'After some time I heard a soft sound coming from the bathroom so I opened it.'

Mello turned slowly around to give Matt a glare that said "I told you it was a bad plan".

Matt threw his arms in the air. 'How am I supposed to know that Near would come in here!' He exclaimed.

'Everyone could come in here, Matt! The doors to all of our sleeping rooms don't have locks!'

'We couldn't let her out there alone in the cold! She would've died, Mels…'

'You found her outside?' Near asked. He stood up from his sitting place on the ground.

A scowl appeared on Mello's face when he remembered Near was still in the room. 'Yes, we found her outside and saved her by breaking the rules. So go ahead and go tell Roger we didn't listen again.'

His hands formed into fists when he thought about their new pet going away. He lowered his head when he felt sadness through his anger. Chrissy was only for a few days here, but he felt already very fond of her. Especially after she tried to comfort him when he had a nightmare some days ago, he began to like her even more. Chrissy was very smart even for a cat. She was perfect for someone of Wammy's.

'I won't tell anyone.'

Mello's head jerked up and Matt gasped.

'What did you say?' Matt asked astonished.

Near walked past them and held his hand on the door handle. 'I said I won't tell anyone about your cat.'

Mello blinked a few times before he found something to say. 'Why?'

'I may be not a fan of breaking the rules and causing chaos like you two, but I'm not going to betray you if she's so important to you and Matt.'

With that said he opened the door and closed it behind him. The first thing Matt did was grabbing Chrissy of the floor and hug her closely.

'Who would've thought Near had a heart?! We can keep Chrissy!'

Mello had his doubts about Near. Who said he wouldn't betray them? He looked at Matt who was spinning happily round and round with Chrissy in his arms and he sighed. He just had to trust Near for this one time.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 _December 24th_

Time flies and it was finally morning. L would come today! He was a busy man, what isn't weird if you're the best detective of the whole world, but he always made some time for the kids at Wammy House. Especially time for his three successors.

The moment the black limousine stopped before Wammy's all the children ran towards the front door and gathered in the hallway. They all talked excitedly to each other. Mello and Matt managed to push everyone away and made their way to the front of the crowd. They were just in time there as the front door opened.

Now L was not someone who was comfortable with too much people around him and he was not emotionless… but he didn't show a lot emotions either. That all disappeared the moment he saw all the children of Wammy's staring at him in awe. Normal kids would say that their favourite superhero was Superman, Batman, or any other ordinary hero. But here L was the superhero. Even the kids who weren't in the race for being L's successor adored him. And L was very fond of all kids at Wammy House, although some kids were secretly his favourite.

'L!' Mello said happily and he threw his arms around the detective. L smiled at that. It wasn't that often Mello looked so happy. That was mostly Matt's thing.

'Don't you forget me!' Matt exclaimed and threw his arms around L too. Both of them smiling brightly at their hero.

L couldn't resist to smile back at them. 'How could I forget you, Matt? That would be impossible.' He looked at Mello that held on to him on the other side. 'And hello to you too, Mello.'

After the two boys finally let go L began to work his way through the crowd. He answered questions and asked things himself when he remembered a particular thing about the child in question.

When he spoke to almost every child at least once he noticed he missed someone… his first successor. L looked around and saw the little boy dressed in white. He didn't bother to go into the chaos of children and stood silently on the side of the crowd. Waiting patiently for L to notice him.

L walked out of the crowd of children and went to Near. The others understood L wanted some time with his top three successors and they all went their own way. Mello and Matt followed close behind L.

'Hello Near, how are you?'

'Nice to see you again, L,' he answered. 'And I'm fine.'

Mello mumbled something under his breath. L turned to look at the blonde standing behind him.

'I'm sorry, Mello. But I didn't hear you well. Could you repeat it for me?'

Mello turned red. 'Uhmm…'

L still stared at him unblinking. 'I'm waiting.'

The blonde looked at the ground, not willing to say it to his idol.

L sighed. 'Seeing your reaction I suppose it was something you rather not repeat out loud and therefore something offensive to Near.'

Mello nodded.

'Hmm, well, I think I need to speak to you later about that. For now let us go to and get some hot chocolate! And probably some strawberry cake as well…'

L walked away and the three boys followed. Matt patted his friend's back in pity when he saw his face was still flushed.

* * *

Whole Wammy House was excited for the enormous diner to celebrate Christmas Eve. Sadly enough it was still in the afternoon and diner wouldn't start until a few hours later. Mello and Matt had drunk some hot chocolate with L in the common room close to the warm fireplace and sometime later they watched how their cat Chrissy was doing in their room. Chrissy was very happy to see them and began to ask for hugs while purring loudly. It was a pity they couldn't let some snacks magically appear and stay in their room with the cat, because after an hour they wanted something to eat.

Mello sighed and stood up from his bed where he was reading while petting Chrissy. 'Come on, Matt. Time to sneak into the kitchen to get some snacks.'

Matt raised an eyebrow. 'Why do I have to go with you? You can get them yourself perfectly, right?'

All he got was a glance that said _"you have nothing to say about it so shut up and do it"._ The redhead muttered some complains, but stood up nonetheless. 'All right, let's go quickly.'

For most of the walk to the kitchen they acted like they were just going somewhere, but when they neared the kitchen it was time to go into stealth mode. One hallway removed from their goal it failed miserably.

L was on his way to retrieve the blond for their talk about his behaviour earlier that day. The three almost bumped into each other when they walked around the corner at the same time.

'Ah, Mello. I was just looking for you. I need to speak with you about earlier this morning.'

Mello glanced up at the man and saw L would not tolerate any contradiction. He sighed defeated. 'Alright…' He trudged after L to where most likely his office was. Mello turned his head and made eye contact with Matt . One glance between them was enough to communicate with each other. Matt had to go alone to the kitchen and get some snacks for both of them.

So, now on his own, Matt continued his way and sneaked unseen to the large cupboard full with stored food like… cookies! It got even better as they seemed to be chocolate cookies. He opened the jar and put his hand in it to grab some.

'What on earth are you planning to do?!' an angry voice sounded through the kitchen.

Matt froze and his eyes widened. He slowly pulled back his arm and turned around to see a very angry Roger behind him. That man had the stealth abilities of a ninja sometimes!

He smiled uneasily. 'Hey, Roger. What nice to see you here on this wonderful day.'

Roger crossed his arms and didn't seem pleased at all. 'You know it is forbidden to steal from the kitchens without permission. And that's not all, because I just know you and Mello do this more often!'

'Do you have any proof of-'

'I don't need proof! You were caught red-handed just now!' Roger pointed to the door. 'Follow me to my office I'll think of a punishment fitting enough to teach you a lesson. I can tell you already it will take until dinner.'

'Ah hello no,' Matt groaned.

He followed Roger out of the kitchen and he gasped softly when he remembered Chrissy was alone in their room. Roger would keep him busy for the next few hours and he had no idea how long he would be gone with L. When they reached the hallway Matt looked around desperately in hope for an idea in this situation. It was his luck Near just happened to shuffle in his calm way through the same hall as them. Probably in the direction of the common room to play with the deck of cards in his hand and the robot under his other arm. He stopped Near by holding his arm out when they past each other. It wouldn't take more than a few seconds for Roger to notice he didn't follow him anymore.

'Near,' he whispered hastily close to the boy's ear. 'I need you to go to my room and keep an eye on Chrissy for a little while, okay?'

Matt swore he saw Near raise an eyebrow just an inch, but it could've been an illusion. 'Why would I need to do that?'

The redhead saw Roger stop a few meters further down the hallway. 'Please, just do it! You're the only one who knows of her besides me and Mello and we're both in trouble at the moment.'

'Matt! Stop bothering Near and follow me this instantly!' Roger commanded. He had noticed Matt's little stop.

He quickly went to follow Roger again, but not before turning around and making a begging gesture with his hands towards Near. He took breath of relief when the small boy slightly nodded.

* * *

He wasn't surprised Matt and Mello both caused trouble once again. Though it was rare they got caught separated. Now they were both unable to care for their new pet.

Near sighed as he opened the door to the room he was normally never welcome. It wasn't that he disliked cats. It was just that cats would walk everywhere they wanted and bothered you when they wanted to eat, even if it wasn't time to eat.

' _Miaow!'_

When the door opened Chrissy sprung from one of the beds and waved her fluffy tail enthusiastically. Near quickly closed the door behind him before the cat could slip into the hallway and the rest of Wammy's. Though it seemed trying to escape the room wasn't her goal. Chrissy brushed her head against his leg and purred softly. Near just stood there, not knowing what he should do. Eventually he decided to play with the robot he had with him. He sat down on the floor in the middle of the room and began to let the toy robot walk over the ground. The robot did not get far as Chrissy found the toy very interesting as well.

He didn't pay attention to the cat as Chrissy slowly went into a hunt position, eyes following the moving robot. Suddenly she jumped forwards and attacked the robot.

Near blinked when Chrissy grabbed her prey by its little arm and dragged it away under one of the beds.

'… My robot…' Near mumbled.

Chrissy poked her head out from under the bed to peek in his way when the boy for the first time since entering the room spoke.

Near stretched his arm out towards the cat. 'Give it back.'

Chrissy simply blinked and continued staring.

It was obvious he wouldn't get his toy robot back soon. So after a few moments of staring at each other Near gave up and grabbed his pack of cards instead. Surely the cat wouldn't see some cards as prey.

Near put the pile of cards neatly on the floor next to him and picked up the first two, carefully placing them against each other. This went on until the tower of cards was almost as high as his head while sitting. Meanwhile Chrissy watched Near building his card tower, but it became boring for the energetic cat. Crammed in the same room all day was beginning to work on the nerves of the cat. So just to get rid of some energy the cat picked up the robot and played with the new toy. Chrissy rolled around with the robot in her claws, not paying attention to where she was rolling to. And so it happened. Chrissy rolled straight through the tower of cards, causing them to fall to the ground and scatter them around most of the floor.

Near glared at the annoying cat. It really was the cat of Mello… destroying his card towers and all.

Chrissy had no idea of the glare shot at her by the irritated boy and continued to play with the robot, rolling around through the many cards on the ground. Slowly but surely the glare disappeared and his eyes softened slightly as he watched the cat play happily with his robot.

'It must be boring to stay here without anything to play,' he said. Chrissy looked up from her toy and curiously listened to his voice.

He sighed. 'You can keep the robot… I've got more anyway.'

Chrissy simply blinked and meowed softly. Then, robot forgotten, she walked up to Near and tried to climb up on his lap. She brushed her head against his chest and began to pur pleased when he carefully stroked her soft chocolate brown fur. He knew the cat couldn't possible understand what he said before, but somehow he thought she was thanking him for giving the robot. That or she just wanted some attention. Most likely the latter.

Maybe caring for a pet like Chrissy wasn't that bad as he thought. As he watched Chrissy purring and ask for more attention, a smile tucked at Near's lips and for the first time in what felt like forever he smiled.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Christmas Eve

After a long day of being scolded, Mello by L and Matt by Roger, the two were finally freed. The kitchen needed Roger's help preparing the special Christmas Eve dinner and L had to look over some more cases before the evening started. When they returned to their room at almost the same time they were greeted by the sight of Chrissy playing with a toy robot and Near actually _smiling_. Alright, it was hardly noticeable, but it was there!

'… Near… why are there cards lying around everywhere on the floor?' Mello asked.

'I think the answer to that question is quite obvious, Mello,' the boy replied. 'Chrissy decided it was fun to run right through my card house and destroy it.'

'And the robot?'

'She stole it from me to play with it, but it's okay. She can have the robot. There isn't much to play for her in this room so it will relieve some of her boredom.' He paused before adding: 'She actually acts a lot like you, destroying my card towers, stealing my possessions and things like that.

Mello's eyes narrowed before narrowing as he glared at Near. Matt simply chuckled. 'You're kinda right, she really does acts a lot like-' He quickly ended his words there as Mello's glare turned to him.

The blond continued to glare for a few seconds before sighing. He pointed at the door. 'Just go away, Near, before I ruin the Christmas spirit and beat your scrawny ass to tomorrow.'

'But my cards-'

'Matt will gather the cards and bring them to you later.'

'What?!' Matt exclaimed. 'Why me?'

'Because you thought I act like a female cat.'

'… So if it was a male cat you wouldn't mind?'

Mello's dark expression said enough for Near to leave the room as quickly as possible.

* * *

The food at Wammy's was always tasty, but with the Christmas diner it was simply delicious. Long tables were nicely decorated with candles, tablecloths and plates full of the most mouthwatering things you've ever seen, smelled and eaten.

Slowly but surely the diner hall began to fill with children after the bell announced it was time to eat. Normally L didn't eat in the dining hall and only ate in his room, but for Christmas he made an exception. Mello couldn't be happier when L sat down, well crouched down, next to him. Near on the other side of L, but the blonde's mood couldn't be broken. Matt had his place right beside his best friend Mello and actually put his Gameboy away during dinner and paid attention to everyone around him. Near was mostly silent as always, but his stoic expression seemed less robotic than normal. His eyes cold as steel now much warmer. It was a happy time full of laughter and conviviality.

Of course the two boys didn't forget their new pet and sneaked some of the delicious diner into their room for Chrissy. The cat was certainly very pleased by the food they brought her.

And so a wonderful Christmas Eve ended as Mello and Matt went to sleep.

 _December 25th_

It was pretty early in the morning when Mello was awoken by some bustle in the hallway outside their room. He heard children running and talking agitated about things he couldn't hear well. He slowly stretched his arms above his head and rolled onto his back. Turning his head to the other side of the room he saw Matt sleepily opening his eyes and trying to blink the sleep away.

'What's all that noise about?' he mumbled half asleep.

Mello rubbed his tired eyes and kicked his brain on to start working on that question. Though he didn't have to think long because there sounded one understandable word from the hallway and it sounded like "presents".

At the same time they suddenly jumped out of bed, sleep fully gone away in an instant. Chrissy let out a whine when Mello tossed his blanket off of him and disturbed the cat's sleep. She was peacefully sleeping on Mello's bed before.

Mello turned around and gave the startled cat a hug and Matt stroked the soft fur on her back. 'We're going out for a moment, Chrissy,' Matt said. 'But we'll be back soon and I promise to get you some treats when we come back!'

Both stood up and rushed to the door to get as fast as possible to the common room where a Christmas tree stood with a lot of presents under it for every child in the orphanage just like every year. What they didn't noticed however, was that the door wasn't closed properly and it went open again slightly ajar.

Everyone in the common room was in their pyjamas. Except the adults present and L. L was never seen in something different than his baggy jeans and white shirt.

Mello and Matt hurried to the tree and searched for the present with their name on it. There already were a lot gone so it wasn't hard to find them. Matt quickly unpacked his present and his eyes widened with joy when he saw his present.

'I got a new game! Pokémon Z! It's not even out yet! Awesome!'

Mello's eyes widened as he held his favourite brand of expensive Belgian bittersweet dark chocolate after he impatiently tore the packing of his present. 'There's a whole box full of bars of them,' he whispered in shock.

Suddenly someone stopped behind him. He turned around and saw L staring down at him.

'I've talked to Roger. He's not permitted to forbid you eating them at any time or to take them way.'

Mello gasped. 'Thank you!'

Then some other children pulled the attention of the detective away and he went to speak to them. Matt was already playing his new game, Mello had no idea how where he pulled his DS from because he was still in his pyjama, and he seemed lost to the world around him. So Mello took on bar of his special chocolate and took a bite, savouring the taste. He watched Matt play his game for some form of entertainment.

After a while it became a little bit less crowded. There were still quite a few in the common room, mostly playing with their presents like Near with his new robot toy. Though the peace in Wammy House came soon to an end. Surprised shrieks were heard from somewhere in the building and it seemed the thing that surprised everyone moved quickly through Wammy's as if in search of something… or someone. L's attention turned away from the children and he watched the door in confusion. Invisible eyebrows beneath his hair in a frown.

Suddenly a little girl outside in the hallway connected to the common room yelled: 'It's a kitty!'

Matt almost dropped his DS and Mello's mouth hang open in shock. Chocolate forgotten in his hand. They shared a knowing glance. There was only one cat in the building and that was Chrissy.

'How did she escaped out of our room?' Mello hissed quietly.

'Maybe we didn't shut the door well enough when we hurried downstairs,' Matt replied.

Then a certain cat ran through the open doorway and ran through the room like a hyper bolt of lightning. Being stuck in a single room for days wasn't good for the energetic cat.

L's eyes widened slightly at the sight of the cat. 'A… cat?'

In the meantime Chrissy got tired of running and decided to lay down next to her new owners. She brushed with her head against Mello's leg and went over to Matt's asking for attention.

' _Miaow!'_

Mello felt someone eyes almost burning through him and he knew exactly who it was… L. Because Chrissy went to them and acted like she already knew them the detective knew immediately who brought in the cat.

'Mello, Matt, could you please explain to me why there's a cat here while it's forbidden to have pets?' He walked over to the two boys. 'Because I'm almost 100% sure you know of this rule.'

They quickly scrambled up from the floor to face L. It wasn't like they could talk it all away as if there wasn't a cat right at their feet.

Matt picked up Chrissy in his arms and hugged the soft creature. 'We found her outside in the snow and decided to take her in.'

'But you can't have any pets here at Wammy House. It wouldn't be fair for the others too if only you two could have a pet and they don't. The cat has got to go away. Most likely to an animal shelter if you found her all alone.'

Mello eyes widened. 'No! We can't throw her away just because of a stupid rule! What if no one ever picks her in the animal shelter? She'll be lonely for years!'

'She's an orphan just like us,' added Matt, hugging the cat in his arms. 'I think she fits her just perfectly.'

'We couldn't leave her out in the cold snow! She would've died!' Mello exclaimed.

L opened his mouth to say it was still unfair for the rest of the children, but Near interrupted him by walking calmly over to stand next to Matt. The white haired boy tickled Chrissy behind her ear so the cat started purring happily.

Near turned his unblinking gaze to L. 'I won't mind if she stays.'

Mello stared in disbelief at the smaller boy, but said nothing. Apparently Near kept his word and didn't tell L about Chrissy. Now he was even defending her!

More children, some already teenager and others much younger came towards them. People already in the room and more came from the hallway, where they had stood to listen to the conversation. In just a minute almost every child of Wammy's stood behind Mello, Matt and Near. Determined to stand their ground.

'Why can't we keep the kitty?' a small girl asked. 'She's an orphan like us.'

More voices began to rise from the group of children and Mello and Matt watched with surprise and wonder how the others helped to defend Chrissy.

'Yeah! What's the problem with keeping a cat here? It's not bothering me at least!'

'Me neither!'

'What if we made her the house cat of Wammy House? Then it wouldn't be unfair!'

'Pleeaase, let us keep her! She's so pretty and fluffy!'

L sighed deeply, but couldn't help but smile at the sight of all the children unite to keep the cat. Even Mello and Near were in the same team and that alone was a miracle. 'Alright, alright. The cat can stay here at Wammy House,' he surrendered. There was no way to go against all the children of Wammy's, that's even a power too much for the great detective. Besides… maybe the cat could keep some lonely, shy children company and play with the wilder ones.

The children cheered their victory and hugged each other and laughed together.

L came closer to the cat, still in Matt's arms, and stroked the soft furred head of the cat with his index finger. 'What is her name?'

Mello watched Wammy's new house cat purr as she got attention from the detective.

'Chrissy,' he smiled. 'Chrissy the Christmas Cat.


End file.
